8 held in illegal surrogacy racket, 6 fertility clinics under lens
Investigators said the role of at least six fertility centres in Hyderabad is now under scrutiny.
According to police, Narreddula Laxmi Reddy and her son Narender Reddy acted as agents, allegedly luring financially vulnerable women from Bidar in Karnataka and various districts of Andhra Pradesh to become surrogate mothers or egg donors in violation of the law.
"Laxmi Reddy had earlier worked as an egg donor and surrogate mother.
Using her experience and contacts with other agents, fertility clinics, and IVF centres, she began recruiting women and referring them to different fertility centres," said Medchal DCP N Koti Reddy.
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A search at Laxmi's residence led to the seizure of ₹6.47 lakh in cash, promissory notes, and non-judicial stamp papers from Narender, an engineering graduate who allegedly assisted his mother in running the racket.
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Police also recovered disposable syringes, pregnancy medicines, hormone injections, and case sheets from a private IVF clinic.
Investigators allege Laxmi charged couples — referred to her by IVF clinics — between ₹10 lakh and ₹20 lakh depending on the service sought, while the women who carried the pregnancies received no more than ₹2 lakh. Police say she kept the women at her Quthbullapur residence and demanded additional payments from IVF centres for 'providing' them as surrogates.
While the donors and surrogates were aware that commercial surrogacy is banned under Indian law, they agreed to participate for monetary gain, officers said. The possible complicity of the six fertility clinics in Banjara Hills, Kondapur, Madhapur, and Somajiguda is still under investigation, police said.
The police said the investigation will determine whether the clinics knowingly facilitated illegal surrogacy or merely acted as intermediaries.
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